Signal Processing Apparatus, Communication System, Method Performed By Signal Processing Apparatus, Storage Medium For Signal Processing Apparatus, Method Performed By Communication Terminal, And Storage Medium For Communication Terminal

ABSTRACT

According to one embodiment, a signal processing apparatus correlates a plurality of communication terminals as a group and enables one-to-many communications in the group. The signal processing apparatus includes processing circuitry. The processing circuitry assigns a transmission right to one of the communication terminals in the group. The processing circuitry generates text data based on voice data from said one of the communication terminals in possession of the transmission right. The processing circuitry gives a texting completion notice indicative of completion of texting processing to the communication terminals in the group. The processing circuitry transmits, after the texting completion notice is given, the generated text data to at least one of the communication terminals in the group.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional Application of U.S. Ser. No. 16/520,015filed Jul. 23, 2019, which is a Continuation Application of PCTApplication No. PCT/JP2018/021725, filed Jun. 6, 2018 and based upon andclaims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent ApplicationNo. 2017-119046, filed Jun. 16, 2017, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Technical Field

The present invention relates to a signal processing apparatus, acommunication system, a method performed by a signal processingapparatus, a program executed by a signal processing apparatus, a methodperformed by a communication terminal, and a program executed by acommunication terminal.

Discussion

Push-to-Talk (PTT) communication, being a half-duplex voicecommunication system, is known as the technique realizing one-to-manysimultaneous group voice communications. The PTT communication involvesuse of, for example, transceivers, wireless equipment, etc., asterminals. In the PTT communication, a user is permitted to send voicesto other parties forming a group, during a period where the user ispressing a call button arranged on its terminal.

The recent spread of multipurpose communication terminals such assmartphones has attracted attention to Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC)that stipulates transmission of packets including voice data to multipledevices in a multicast manner. According to the PoC, a transmissionright for transmitting voice data is given to one of multiplecommunication terminals forming a group. The communication terminalhaving acquired the transmission right transmits voice data to the othercommunication terminals in a multicast manner.

It is often the case with the communication systems realizingone-to-many simultaneous group voice communications that information ismiscommunicated due to circumstances such as receivers not hearingintended contents of voice data correctly. There is therefore a demandin the communication systems of this type for the art that can suppressmiscommunication of information.

SUMMARY

According to a first embodiment, a signal processing apparatuscorrelates a plurality of communication terminals as a group and enablesone-to-many communications from one of the communication terminals inthe group to remaining one or more of the communication terminals in thegroup. The signal processing apparatus includes processing circuitry.The processing circuitry assigns a transmission right to one of thecommunication terminals in the group. The transmission right is a rightto transmit data. The processing circuitry generates text data based onvoice data from said one of the communication terminals in possession ofthe transmission right. The processing circuitry gives a textingcompletion notice indicative of completion of texting processing to thecommunication terminals in the group. The processing circuitrytransmits, after the texting completion notice is given, the generatedtext data to at least one of the communication terminals in the group.

According to a second embodiment, a communication system includes aplurality of communication terminals and a signal processing apparatus.The signal processing apparatus correlates the communication terminalsas a group and enables one-to-many communications from one of thecommunication terminals in the group to remaining one or more of thecommunication terminals in the group. The signal processing apparatusincludes processing circuitry. The processing circuitry assigns atransmission right to one of the communication terminals in the group.The transmission right is a right to transmit data. The processingcircuitry generates text data based on voice data from said one of thecommunication terminals in possession of the transmission right. Theprocessing circuitry gives a texting completion notice indicative ofcompletion of texting processing to the communication terminals in thegroup. The processing circuitry transmits, after the texting completionnotice is given, the generated text data to at least one of thecommunication terminals in the group.

According to a third embodiment, a communication method is performed bya signal processing apparatus. The signal processing apparatuscorrelates a plurality of communication terminals as a group and enablesone-to-many communications from one of the communication terminals inthe group to remaining one or more of the communication terminals in thegroup. The communication method includes a step for generating text databased on voice data from one of the communication terminals in thegroup, which is assigned with a transmission right. The transmissionright is a right to transmit data. The communication method includes astep for sending, after generating the text data, a texting completionnotice indicative of completion of texting processing to thecommunication terminals in the group. The communication method includesa step for transmitting, after sending the texting completion notice,the generated text data to at least one of the communication terminalsin the group.

According to a fourth embodiment, a communication method is performed byeach of a plurality of communication terminals which are correlated as agroup for performing one-to-many communications from one of thecommunication terminals in the group to remaining one or more of thecommunication terminals in the group. The communication method includesa step for receiving a texting completion notice indicative ofcompletion of texting processing on voice data having been transmittedfrom one of the communication terminals. The communication methodincludes a step for transmitting, in response to the received textingcompletion notice, a request signal for requesting transmission of textdata generated by the texting processing. The communication methodincludes a step for receiving the text data returned in response to therequest signal. The communication method includes a step causing adisplay to display a character based on the received text data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration for acommunication system according to a certain embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration for aprocessing server appearing in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration for eachcommunication terminal appearing in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining operations of the processing serverand the communication terminals in the communication system of FIG. 1 ,for performing voice communications.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a management table stored in a storageappearing in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a user management table stored in thestorage appearing in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a structure of voice data generated by aprocessor appearing in FIG. 3 .

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining operations of the processing serverappearing in FIG. 1 , for generating text data and translated text data.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of call data generatedby a storage controlling unit appearing in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a structure of text data generated by atexting processing unit appearing in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a structure of translated text datagenerated by a translation processing unit appearing in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining operations of the processing serverand the communication terminals appearing in FIG. 1 , for thecommunication terminals to cause their respective displays to displaycharacters corresponding to voices.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing characters displayed after the processingas explained with reference to FIG. 12 .

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining operations of the processing serverand each communication terminal appearing in FIG. 1 , for thecommunication terminal to cause its display to display characterscorresponding to text data and translated text data.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing characters displayed by the communicationterminal, after the processing as explained with reference to FIG. 14 .

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining operations of the processing serverand the communication terminals appearing in FIG. 1 , for thecommunication terminals to cause their respective displays to displaycharacters corresponding to voices.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a texting completion indication displayedby the communication terminals appearing in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining operations of the processing serverand each communication terminal appearing in FIG. 1 , for thecommunication terminal to cause its display to display characterscorresponding to text data and translated text data.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining operations of the processing serverand the communication terminals appearing in FIG. 1 , for thecommunication terminals to reproduce voices corresponding to charactersdisplayed on their respective displays.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining operations of the processing serverand the communication terminal appearing in FIG. 1 , for thecommunication terminal to correct characters displayed on the display.

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining operations of the processing serverand each communication terminal appearing in FIG. 1 , for thecommunication terminal to cause its display to display correctedcharacters.

FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining operations of the processing serverand each communication terminal appearing in FIG. 1 , for thecommunication terminal to cause its display to display characters aftercorrection and translation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Now, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the functionalconfiguration for a communication system 1 according to a certainembodiment. The communication system 1 of FIG. 1 utilizes, for example,Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PoC) to realize one-to-many voicecommunications in units of groups. For example, the communication system1 includes, as shown in FIG. 1 , a processing server 10, communicationterminals 20-1 to 20-m, and base stations 30-1 to 30-n.

The processing server 10 is connected to the base stations 30-1 to 30-nvia a network such as the Internet, a communication network furnished bya communication carrier, and so on. The communication terminals 20-1 to20-m are each adapted for wireless connection to any of the basestations 30-1 to 30-n that forms a wireless area covering the terminal'scurrent location.

The processing server 10 may be, for example, a signal processingapparatus adapted to implement control for transmitting, in a multicastmanner, voice data from any of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-mthat possesses a transmission right, to other one or more of thecommunication terminals 20-1 to 20-m for users participating in the sametalk group as the user of the originating terminal. The embodiments willassume the transmission right to mean a right by which voice datatransmissions in the context of PoC are permitted.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functionalconfiguration for the processing server 10 appearing in FIG. 1 . Asshown in FIG. 2 , the processing server 10 includes, for example, aprocessor 11, a storage 12, and a communication interface 13. Theprocessor 11, the storage 12, and the communication interface 13 areconnected together via, for example, a bus so that they can communicatewith each other.

The processor 11 includes, for example, components such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a first memory for use in the CPU's processing,and a second memory between the CPU and the first memory. The firstmemory is a so-called main storage device, and may be constituted by,for example, a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), The second memory isa so-called cache memory, and may be constituted by, for example, astatic RAM (SRAM). The processor 11 may be, for example, processingcircuitry.

In an exemplary operation, the CPU loads application programs stored inthe storage 12 into the first memory and the second memory. The CPU runsthe application programs loaded into the first memory and the secondmemory. The processor 11 thus realizes various functions correspondingto the application programs.

The storage 12 is a so-called auxiliary storage device, and may includea hard disk drive (HDD), nonvolatile storage circuitry, e.g., a solidstate drive (SSD), etc., for storing various types of information. Notethat the storage 12 may also be a drive device, etc., adapted to readand write various information sets from and to portable storage mediasuch as a CD-ROM, a DVD, and a flash memory. The storage 12 storesapplication programs related to the embodiments.

The storage 12 is adapted to store user information for usersparticipating in talk groups, under the control of the processor 11. Thestorage 12 is also adapted to store call data generated based on voicedata transmitted from a communication terminal having the transmissionright, under the control of the processor 11. The storage 12 is adaptedto store text data obtained by subjecting the call data to textingprocessing, and also text data after correction by a communicationterminal having the transmission right, under the control of theprocessor 11.

The storage 12 is further adapted to store translated text data obtainedby subjecting the text data to translation processing, under the controlof the processor 11.

The communication interface 13 is circuitry for connection to thenetwork. The communication interface 13 is adapted to transmit, via thenetwork, data to at least one of the communication terminals 20-1 to20-m each wirelessly connected to the corresponding station of the basestations 30-1 to 30-n. The communication interface 13 is also adapted toreceive, via the network, data transmitted from at least one of thecommunication terminals 20-1 to 20-m each wirelessly connected to thecorresponding station of the base stations 30-1 to 30-n.

The processor 11 shown in FIG. 2 runs the application programs stored inthe storage 12 to realize functions corresponding to these programs. Forexample, by running the application programs, the processor 11 realizesfunctions to serve as a registration processing unit 111, a transmissionright assigning unit 112, a communication controlling unit 113, astorage controlling unit 114, a texting processing unit 115, and atranslation processing unit 116.

The processor 11 shown in FIG. 2 may be constituted by a combination ofmultiple CPUs. That is, the registration processing unit 111, thetransmission right assigning unit 112, the communication controllingunit 113, the storage controlling unit 114, the texting processing unit115, and the translation processing unit 116 shown in FIG. 2 may berealized by, for example, the respective CPUs running the correspondingapplication programs.

The processor 11 may also be constituted by special hardware componentshaving the respective functions of the registration processing unit 111,the transmission right assigning unit 112, the communication controllingunit 113, the storage controlling unit 114, the texting processing unit115, and the translation processing unit 116. Moreover, the processor 11may be constituted by an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC),a field programmable gate array (FPGA), other complex programmable logicdevice (CPLD), or a simple programmable logic device (SPLD), whichincorporates dedicated hardware circuits having the respective functionsof the registration processing unit 111, the transmission rightassigning unit 112, the communication controlling unit 113, the storagecontrolling unit 114, the texting processing unit 115, and thetranslation processing unit 116.

The registration processing unit 111 is adapted to register usersparticipating in talk groups for conducting one-to-many voicecommunications. More specifically, and for example, the registrationprocessing unit 111 acquires user information, i.e., information aboutusers participating in a given talk group, based on a request from thecommunication terminals 20-1 to 20-m. The registration processing unit111 stores the acquired user information in the storage 12 as well as inthe first memory, in association with the talk group intended forparticipation.

The user information may include, for example, an ID of a talk group, anID of a user participating in the talk group, an IP address of theuser's communication terminal, a language code of language set by theuser, a login state of the user, location information of the user'scommunication terminal, and so on. The registration processing unit 111stores, in the storage 12, definition information indicative of whichuser participates in which talk group, that is, the ID of a talk groupand the IDs of users participating in the talk group, for example. Also,the registration processing unit 111 stores, in the first memory,information which dynamically changes according to the correspondingcommunication terminals 20 and their states, that is, the IP addresses,the language codes, the login states, and the location information,etc., for example.

The transmission right assigning unit 112 is adapted to assign thetransmission right to one of the communication terminals for usersparticipating in a given talk group.

The communication controlling unit 113 is adapted to controlcommunications among the communication terminals for users participatingin talk groups, so that one-to-many voice communications areimplemented. More specifically, in an exemplary instance, thecommunication controlling unit 113 transmits voice data transmitted froma communication terminal assigned with the transmission right, to thecommunication terminals held by users participating in the same talkgroup.

Also, the communication controlling unit 113 is adapted to controlcommunications so that text data converted from voice data istransmitted to the communication terminals for users participating in atalk group. More specifically, in an exemplary instance, thecommunication controlling unit 113 transmits, upon conversion of voicedata into text data, a notice indicative of the completion of thetexting processing to the communication terminals held by usersparticipating in a talk group. Then, in response to the communicationterminals requesting transmission of the text data, the communicationcontrolling unit 113 transmits the text data to the requestorcommunication terminals.

The communication controlling unit 113 is adapted to controlcommunications so that translated text data, which is generated bytranslating text data into a given language, is transmitted to thecommunication terminals in need of the translation. More specifically,in an exemplary instance, the communication controlling unit 113transmits, upon translation of text data, a notice indicative of thecompletion of the translation processing to the communication terminalsheld by users participating in a talk group. Then, in response to thecommunication terminals requesting transmission of the translated textdata, the communication controlling unit 113 transmits the translatedtext data to the requestor communication terminals.

The communication controlling unit 113 is adapted to controlcommunications so that, when text data is corrected by a communicationterminal with the transmission right, the corrected text data istransmitted to the communication terminals for users participating in atalk group. More specifically, in an exemplary instance, thecommunication controlling unit 113 transmits, if a communicationterminal with the transmission right corrects text data, a noticeindicative of the update of display to the communication terminals heldby users participating in the corresponding talk group. Then, inresponse to the communication terminals requesting transmission of thecorrected text data, the communication controlling unit 113 transmitsthe corrected text data to the requestor communication terminals.

Furthermore, the communication controlling unit 113 is adapted tocontrol communications so that call data is transmitted to communicationterminals requesting reproduction of the call data. More specifically,and for example, in response to a request for reproduction of call datafrom users participating in a talk group, the communication controllingunit 113 transmits the call data stored in the storage 12 to therequestor communication terminals.

The storage controlling unit 114 is adapted to control processing forstoring received voice data and various types of generated data. Morespecifically, and for example, the storage controlling unit 114 retains,in the cache memory, voice data transmitted from a communicationterminal with the transmission right. Then, for example, the storagecontrolling unit 114 collects a predetermined volume of the voice dataretained by the cache memory, and stores the collected data in thestorage 12 as call data. The storage controlling unit 114 also stores,for example, text data obtained by the texting processing unit 115 andtext data corrected by the communication terminal with the transmissionright, in the storage 12. The storage controlling unit 114 stores, forexample, translated text data generated by the translation processingunit 116 in the storage 12, as well. Furthermore, the storagecontrolling unit 114 may be adapted to read the call data, the textdata, and the translated text data stored in the storage 12 uponrequest, and transmit them to the requestors.

The texting processing unit 115 is adapted to convert voice datatransmitted from a communication terminal with the transmission rightinto text data. More specifically, and for example, the textingprocessing unit 115 converts a predetermined volume of the voice dataretained in the cache memory into text data based on grammarinformation, linguistic structure information, information aboutcompositions of voice data, stored word information, and so on. Notethat the voice-to-text conversion processing adopted by the textingprocessing unit 115 may utilize the existing technology.

The translation processing unit 116 is adapted to perform translationprocessing on the text data obtained through the conversion processingby the texting processing unit 115, in order to generate translated textdata. More specifically, and for example, the translation processingunit 116 translates the text data obtained through the conversionprocessing by the texting processing unit 115 into the text data in alanguage corresponding to the language code associated with theapplicable user participating in a talk group. Note that the translationprocessing adopted by the translation processing unit 116 may utilizethe existing technology, including the statistical machine translation,neural machine translation, etc.

Note that the processing server 10 may include an input interface. Theinput interface may be realized by, for example, a mouse, a keyboard, atouch pad which receives input instructions through contact of itsoperation screen, and so on. The input interface may convert inputinstructions from operators into electric signals, and output theelectric signals to the processor 11. The input interface is not limitedto physical operation devices such as a mouse, a keyboard, etc. Examplesof the input interface may include a receive port adapted to acceptelectric signals from external input devices.

The processing server 10 may also include an output interface. Theoutput interface may be realized by, for example, a display device, aprint device, and the like. As the display device, any display equipmentmay be employed, including a CRT display, a liquid crystal display, anorganic EL display, an LED display, a plasma display, etc. The displaydevice is adapted to display image data for display subjects. The printdevice is, for example, a printer. The print device is adapted to printout image data for print subjects in the form of a predetermined sheet.The output interface is not limited to physical output devices such as adisplay device, a print device, etc. Examples of the output interfacemay include an output port adapted to send out image data to an externaloutput devices.

The base stations 30-1 to 30-n are provided for respective areas of apredetermined size, and each adapted to form a predetermined wirelessarea. The base stations 30-1 to 30-n are each adapted to be wirelesslyconnected to one or more of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m,which are located within the wireless area formed by itself.

The communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m may be terminals held byrespective users, and each may be, for example, a cellular phone, asmartphone, a tablet PC, a given special terminal device, or the like.The communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m are adapted to conductone-to-many voice communications under the PoC via the processing server10. In an exemplary instance, the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-meach participate in a group talk according to a user operation. One ofthe communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m acquires the transmissionright, following a user operation. The communication terminal havingacquired the transmission right accepts voice inputs from its user, andtransmits the voice data based on the accepted voices to othercommunication terminals participating in the same group talk via theprocessing server 10. Also, the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m areadapted to receive text data generated at the processing server 10 basedon the voices, and display the characters corresponding to the text dataon their respective displays.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functionalconfiguration for each of the communication terminals 20 appearing inFIG. 1 . The communication terminal 20 of FIG. 3 includes, for example,a processor 21, a storage 22, an input interface 23, an output interface24, a communication interface 25, and a GPS receiver 26. Note that thecommunication terminals 20-1 to 20-m share similar configurations, sothey may each be construed as the communication terminal 20 in thedescription with reference to FIG. 3 .

The processor 21 may include, for example, components such as a CPU, anda volatile memory, e.g., a random access memory (RAM), as a main storagedevice for use in the CPU's processing. In an exemplary operation, theCPU loads application programs stored in the storage 22 into the RAM.The CPU runs the application programs loaded into the RAM. The processor21 thus realizes various functions corresponding to the applicationprograms.

The storage 22 is a so-called auxiliary storage device, and may includenonvolatile storage circuitry, e.g., a NAND or NOR flash memory, etc.Note that the storage 22 may also be a drive device, etc., adapted toread and write various information sets from and to portable storagemedia such as an SD card, a micro SD card, and so on. The storage 22stores application programs related to the embodiments. The storage 22also stores information for the group talks available for its terminalto participate in.

The input interface 23 may be realized by buttons, a touch panel whichreceives input instructions through contact of its operation screen, amicrophone for voice inputs, and so on. The input interface 23 isadapted to convert input instructions from an operator into electricsignals, and output the electric signals to the processor 21.

The output interface 24 may be realized by, for example, a displaydevice, a speaker, and so on. Examples of the display device include aliquid crystal display, an organic EL display, etc. The display deviceis adapted to display image data for display subjects. The speaker isadapted to reproduce voice data involved in voice communications.

The communication interface 25 is circuitry for wireless communicationswith the base stations 30-1 to 30-n. The communication interface 25 maybe realized by, for example, an antenna and a wireless equipmentcomponent. The antenna is adapted to receive incoming radio signals.Also, the antenna is adapted to transmit radio signals output from thewireless equipment component. The wireless equipment component isadapted to convert the radio signals received by the antenna with apreset demodulation scheme, and output the data after the conversion tothe processor 21. The wireless equipment component is also adapted toconvert the data generated at the processor 21 into radio signals with apreset modulation scheme, and output the radio signals after theconversion to the antenna.

The GPS receiver 26 is adapted to receive signals from GPS satellites,and generate location information based on the received signals.

The processor 21 shown in FIG. 3 runs the application programs stored inthe storage 22 to realize functions corresponding to these applicationprograms. For example, by running the application programs, theprocessor 21 realizes functions to serve as a communication controllingunit 211, a storage controlling unit 212, a display controlling unit213, a reproduction controlling unit 214, a recitation controlling unit215, and a correction controlling unit 216.

The communication controlling unit 211 is adapted to control thecommunications with the processing server 10. More specifically, and forexample, the communication controlling unit 211 of the communicationterminal 20 with the transmission right converts a voice input from themicrophone by following a TCP/IP-based unique protocol. Thecommunication controlling unit 211 transmits the voice data after theconversion to the processing server 10 via the network and thecorresponding base station 30. Also, the communication controlling unit211 of the communication terminal 20 with the transmission rightreceives text data from the processing server 10 via the network and thecorresponding base station 30.

For the communication terminals 20 without the transmission right, forexample, the communication controlling unit 211 of each of theseterminals receives voice data, and text data converted from the voicedata through the texting processing, from the processing server 10.Also, if the language which is set for the respective communicationterminal 20 without the transmission right differs from the languagewhich is set for the communication terminal 20 with the transmissionright, the communication controlling unit 211 of the former receivesproper translated text data, i.e., the text data translated into thelanguage set for the own terminal, from the processing server 10.

The storage controlling unit 212 is adapted to control processing forstoring a variety of received notices, text data, and translated textdata. More specifically, and for example, the storage controlling unit212 causes the volatile memory (e.g., RAM) to store a variety ofnotices, text data, and translated text data upon receipt of these. Thevarious notices, text data, and translated text data stored in thevolatile memory may be deleted from the volatile memory when theexecution of the application program for performing one-to-many voicecommunications has come to an end, when the communication terminal 20 ispowered off, or on any suitable conditions. This can obviate the risk ofinformation leakage, etc.

The display controlling unit 213 is adapted to control processing fordisplay operations with the display as the output interface 24. Morespecifically, and for example, the display controlling unit 213 controlsthe display so that the display presents characters based on thereceived various notices, as well as the received text data andtranslated text data.

The reproduction controlling unit 214 is adapted to control reproductionof voices corresponding to the characters which are based on text dataand being displayed on the display. More specifically, and for example,the reproduction controlling unit 214 controls the speaker as the outputinterface 24 to reproduce the call data corresponding to the characterswhich are based on text data and currently displayed on the display.

The recitation controlling unit 215 is adapted to control recitation ofcharacters which are based on translated text data and being displayedon the display. More specifically, and for example, in response to arequest for recitation of characters which are based on translated textdata and currently displayed on the display, the recitation controllingunit 215 converts the characters as a subject of the request into voicedata. The recitation controlling unit 215 then controls the speaker asthe output interface 24 to reproduce the voice data obtained from theconversion. Note that the recitation controlling unit 215 may berealized by an application program interface (API) provided by anoperating system (OS).

The correction controlling unit 216 is adapted to control processing forcorrecting characters displayed on the display. More specifically, andfor example, in response to a request for correction of characterscurrently displayed on the display, the correction controlling unit 216corrects the displayed characters and also transmits the corrected textdata to the processing server 10.

Next, description will be given of how the processing server 10 and thecommunication terminals 20-1 to 20-m, configured as above andconstituting the communication system 1, would operate. Note that thedescription will assume an instance where the communication terminals20-1 to 20-3 will participate in a talk group G1 for implementing voicecommunications.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining exemplary operations of theprocessing server 10 and the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 forperforming voice communications in the communication system 1 of FIG. 1. The explanation based on FIG. 4 assumes that, in each of thecommunication terminals 20-1 to 20-3, the storage 22 already stores theinformation for the talk group G1. That is, the communication terminals20-1 to 20-3 are in the state ready to participate in the talk group G1.

First, the users of the respective communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3operate the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 to each launch theapplication program for conducting one-to-many voice communicationsutilizing the PoC (step S41). In each of the communication terminals20-1 to 20-3, the display controlling unit 213 causes the display as theoutput interface 24 to present a display indicative of, for example, thetalk group G1 as a selectable talk group (step S42). The display heremay show two or more talk groups open for participation.

The users of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 select the talkgroup G1 shown on their own displays. The processor 21 of each of thecommunication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 may automatically select the talkgroup G1 for participation, according to the frequency of participation,user setting, etc. Upon selection of the talk group G1, the displaycontrolling unit 213 of each of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3causes the display to display a list of languages available in theservice. The users of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 eachselect the language desired for use, from the multiple languages shownon the own display (step S43). Also, upon selection of the talk groupG1, the processor 21 of each of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3causes the own GPS receiver 26 to generate location information as ofthe talk group selection.

Upon selection of the talk group and the language for use, thecommunication controlling unit 211 of each of the communicationterminals 20-1 to 20-3 generates information data containing an ID ofthe selected talk group (hereinafter, “talk group ID”), an ID set forthe own terminal (hereinafter, “user ID”), information for the selectedlanguage (hereinafter, “language code”), the obtained locationinformation, etc. The information data has, for example, a packetstructure. The communication terminals 20-1 and 20-2 transmit thegenerated information data to the processing server 10 via the basestation 30-1 and the network NW (step S44). Meanwhile, the communicationterminal 20-3 transmits the generated information data to the processingserver 10 via the base station 30-2 and the network NW (step S44).

The registration processing unit 111 of the processing server 10 stores,based on the information data transmitted from the communicationterminals 20-1 to 20-3, information about the users as the talk groupparticipants in the storage 12 as well as in the first memory in theprocessor 11, in association with the talk group intended forparticipation (step S45). More specifically, and for example, theregistration processing unit 111 referring to the received informationdata updates a management table which is stored in the storage 12 andused for managing users participating in talk groups. FIG. 5 is adiagram showing an example of the management table stored in the storage12 in FIG. 2 . With the management table shown in FIG. 5 , three talkgroups are managed. As seen from this example, the stored informationindicates that the users of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3identified by the user IDs “User01” to “User03” are participating in thetalk group G1 identified by the talk group ID “Group01”.

The registration processing unit 111 also stores, based on theinformation data transmitted from the communication terminals 20-1 to20-3, the information about the users as the talk group participants inthe first memory in the processor 11. More specifically, and forexample, the registration processing unit 111 referring to the receivedinformation data updates a user management table which is stored in thefirst memory and used for managing dynamically-changing userinformation. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the usermanagement table stored in the first memory in the processor 11 in FIG.2 . The user management table shown in FIG. 6 manages information aboutusers participating in talk groups. As seen from this example, the“User01” is associated with the “IP Address 01” of the communicationterminal 20-1, as well as the “Language Code 01” indicative of, forexample, Japanese language, and the “Location Information 01”. Also, the“User02” is associated with the “IP Address 02” of the communicationterminal 20-2, as well as the “Language Code 01” and the “LocationInformation 02”. Further, the “User03” is associated with the “IPAddress 03” of the communication terminal 20-3, as well as the “LanguageCode 02” indicative of, for example, English language, and the “LocationInformation 03”.

It is not a requisite for the processing server 10 to acquire thelocation information of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3.Accordingly, it is not a requisite for the communication terminals 20-1to 20-3 to generate their location information. The information datatransmitted from the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 to theprocessing server 10 may omit inclusion of the location information.

Upon selection of the talk group and the language for use, the displaycontrolling unit 213 of each of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3causes the display to display a PTT call start requesting button (stepS46). In this instance, for example, the user of the communicationterminal 20-1 presses the PTT call start requesting button displayed onthe display of the communication terminal 20-1 (step S47). Upon theuser's pressing the PTT call start requesting button, the communicationcontrolling unit 211 of the communication terminal 20-1 transmits atransmission right acquisition request notice as a request for thetransmission right, together with the user ID to the processing server10 via the base station 30-1 and the network NW (step S48). Note thatthe PTT call start requesting button is not limited to an objectdisplayed on the display. For example, the PTT call start requestingbutton may be a physical button furnished on an operational deviceadapted for connection with the communication terminals, e.g., thecommunication terminal 20-1, via the respective input interface 23 as aconnector.

The transmission right assigning unit 112 of the processing server 10,upon receipt of the transmission right acquisition request notice fromthe communication terminal 20-1, assigns the transmission right to thecommunication terminal 20-1 (step S49). Upon acquisition of thetransmission right, the user of the communication terminal 20-1 inputsvoices from the microphone of the communication terminal 20-1 (stepS410). The communication controlling unit 211 of the communicationterminal 20-1 generates voice data based on the voices input from themicrophone (step S411). The voice data has, for example, a packetstructure that conforms to the TCP/IP-based unique protocol.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of thevoice data generated by the processor 21 appearing in FIG. 3 . The voicedata of FIG. 7 includes an area for storing a talk group ID, an area forstoring a caller ID, an area for storing a time stamp, an area forstoring a data length, and an area for storing main data. Thecommunication controlling unit 211 of the communication terminal 20-1stores the “Group01” in the area for storing a talk group ID, the“User01” in the area for storing a caller ID, a call start time in thearea for storing a time stamp, digital data of as much as predeterminedframes of voices in the area for storing main data, and the data lengthof the digital data of voices in the area for storing a data length. Thecall start time indicates the time at which the call began. Moreconcretely, the communication controlling unit 211 sets, for example,the time at which the user pressed the PTT call start requesting button,as the call start time.

The communication terminal 20-1 transmits the generated voice data tothe processing server 10 via the base station 30-1 and the network NW(step S412).

Upon receipt of the voice data from the communication terminal 20-1 withthe transmission right, the communication controlling unit 113 of theprocessing server 10 performs control for transferring the voice data tothe communication terminals 20-2 and 20-3 participating in the talkgroup G1 (step S413). More specifically, and for example, upon receiptof the voice data from the communication terminal 20-1, thecommunication controlling unit 113 determines whether or not the callerID “User01” stored in the voice data and the user ID “User01” of theuser having been assigned with the transmission right agree with eachother. As the caller ID stored in the voice data and the user ID of theuser assigned with the transmission right are in agreement with eachother, i.e., both being “User01”, the communication controlling unit 113generates duplicates of the voice data as many as the number of theusers participating in the talk group G1. The communication controllingunit 113 transmits the duplicates of the voice data to the respectivecommunication terminals 20-2 and 20-3 by referring to their IP addresses(step S414).

Upon receipt of the voice data from the processing server 10, thecommunication controlling unit 211 of each of the communicationterminals 20-2 and 20-3 reproduces voices based on the received voicedata by outputting them from the speaker (step S415). PTT call, i.e., aPoC communication, is therefore established.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining exemplary operations of theprocessing server 10 appearing in FIG. 1 , for generating text data andtranslated text data.

Upon receipt of the voice data from the communication terminal 20-1, theprocessing server 10 performs the communication control as explainedwith reference to step S413 in FIG. 4 and also the processing shown inFIG. 8 . More specifically, upon receipt of the voice data from thecommunication terminal 20-1, the storage controlling unit 114 of theprocessing server 10 stores the received voice data in the cache memory(step S81). The storage controlling unit 114 sequentially stores thevoice data transmitted from the communication terminal 20-1 in the cachememory.

In response to the voice data in the cache memory reaching apredetermined volume, or in response to the end of a call before thevoice data reaching the predetermined volume, the storage controllingunit 114 generates call data based on the multiple items of the voicedata retained in the cache memory (step S82). In the embodiment, thepredetermined volume may be, for example, a data amount corresponding toa sound sequence of about a 20-second length.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of thecall data generated by the storage controlling unit 114 appearing inFIG. 2 . The call data of FIG. 9 includes an area for storing a talkgroup ID, an area for storing a caller ID, an area for storing a voiceID, an area for storing a call ID, an area for storing a time stamp, anarea for storing a data length, and an area for storing main data. Thevoice ID is a unique ID for the identification of a call initiated by acaller. The call ID is a unique ID which is used when a call initiatedby a caller ranges over more than one call data, in order to identify aposition of the corresponding call data item within the series ofmultiple call data items constituting one call. As the call IDs, forexample, 0, 1, 2, . . . , and so on are set for the respective call dataitems in chronological order. The time stamp here contains a call starttime and a call end time. The call end time indicates the time at whichthe call initiated by a caller has ended. If a call initiated by acaller ranges over more than one call data, the time stamp will contain,instead of the call end time, a call data generation time. The call datageneration time may indicate the time at which the call is sectioned,for example, the time at which the corresponding call data item isgenerated based on multiple voice data items.

More specifically, and for example, the storage controlling unit 114sets the voice ID “Talk01” when the volume of voice data items retainedin the cache memory, each having the talk group ID “Group01” and thecaller ID “User01”, reaches a predetermined volume. The storagecontrolling unit 114 also sets the call ID “0” indicative of the firstcall data related to the “Talk01”. As to the time stamp, the storagecontrolling unit 114 sets “TimeS1” based on the time stamp contained inthe voice data and indicating the call start time. Also as to the timestamp, the storage controlling unit 114 sets “TimeEl” based on the timeat which the call data is generated. The storage controlling unit 114generates the call data by placing the corresponding data members intothe applicable areas. That is, the storage controlling unit 114 arrangesthe “Group01”, “User01”, “Talk01”, “0”, “TimeS1”, “TimeE1”, and the datalength information and main data of the predetermined volume of themultiple voice data items retained in the cache memory, in therespective areas corresponding to these data members so that the calldata is generated. The storage controlling unit 114 stores the generatedcall data in the storage 12.

In the event that the transmission right is released before the volumeof the voice data in the cache memory, having the talk group ID“Group01” and the caller ID “User01”, reaches the predetermined volume,the storage controlling unit 114 also sets the voice ID, the call ID,and the time stamp. The release of the transmission right may berealized by, for example, the user of the communication terminal 20-1,currently with the transmission right, removing its finger from the PTTcall start requesting button. For example, in response to the userseparating the finger from the PTT call start requesting button, thecommunication terminal 20-1 transmits a transmission right releaserequest notice to the processing server 10. The transmission rightassigning unit 112 of the processing server 10, upon receipt of thetransmission right release request notice, releases the transmissionright from the communication terminal 20-1. Note that the actions foracquiring and releasing the transmission right are not limited topressing and separating from the PTT call start requesting button.

When the transmission right release request notice is received, thestorage controlling unit 114 of the processing server 10 sets, forexample, the time of receipt of the transmission right release requestnotice as the call end time. The storage controlling unit 114 sets thetime stamp “TimeEl” based on the set call end time. The storagecontrolling unit 114 reads multiple voice data items each having thetalk group ID “Group01” and the caller ID “User01” from the cachememory. The storage controlling unit 114 generates the call data byplacing the data members into the areas for storing a talk group ID, acaller ID, a voice ID, a call ID, and a time stamp, respectively, andalso by arranging the data length information and the main data of theread voice data items into the respective predetermined areas. Thestorage controlling unit 114 stores the generated call data in thestorage 12. The call data is stored together with the time stampcontaining the call start time and the call end time, etc., andtherefore, the users will be able to use time information, such as thecall start time and the call end time, as a search key for the retrievalof the call data.

In response to the voice data in the cache memory reaching thepredetermined volume, or in response to the end of the call before thevoice data reaching the predetermined volume, the texting processingunit 115 of the processing server 10 generates text data based on themultiple voice data items retained in the cache memory (step S83).

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure ofthe text data generated by the texting processing unit 115 appearing inFIG. 2 . The text data of FIG. 10 includes an area for storing a talkgroup ID, an area for storing a text ID, an area for storing a voice ID,an area for storing a call ID, and an area for storing text main data.The voice ID here adopts the same ID as in the call data subjected tothe texting processing. The call ID adopts the same ID as in the calldata subjected to the texting processing.

More specifically, and for example, when the volume of the voice dataitems retained in the cache memory, each having the talk group ID“Group01” and the caller ID “User01”, reaches a predetermined volume,the texting processing unit 115 reads these voice data items. Thetexting processing unit 115 converts the main data portions contained inthe read voice data items into text main data based on the grammarinformation, linguistic structure information, information about voicedata compositions, stored word information, etc., about the “LanguageCode 01”, i.e., Japanese language, having been associated with the“User01” as in FIG. 6 . Upon converting the main data into the text maindata, the texting processing unit 115 sets the text ID “Text01”. Thetexting processing unit 115 generates the text data by placing thecorresponding data members into the applicable areas. That is, thetexting processing unit 115 arranges the “Group01”, “Text01”, “Talk01”,the text main data, etc., in the respective areas corresponding to thesedata members, so that the text data is generated.

Also, in the event that the transmission right is released before thevolume of the voice data in the cache memory, having the talk group ID“Group01” and the caller ID “User01”, reaches the predetermined volume,the texting processing unit 115 reads the multiple voice data items eachhaving the talk group ID “Group01” and the caller ID “User01” from thecache memory. The texting processing unit 115 generates the text databased on the main data contained in the read voice data.

Upon generation of the text data, the texting processing unit 115notifies the communication controlling unit 113 of the completion of thetexting processing (step S84). This notice of completing the textingprocessing includes, for example, the text ID of the generated textdata. Upon receipt of the notice of completing the texting processing ofthe set of voice data items, the communication controlling unit 113transmits a notice indicative of the completion of the textingprocessing to the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 participating inthe talk group G1, via the network NW and the base station 30-1 (stepS85). Note that the communication controlling unit 113 may transmit thenotice indicative of the completion of the texting processing togetherwith the later-described notice indicative of the completion of thetranslation processing, to the communication terminal 20-3 held by the“User03” for which the language code different from that for the“User01” is set. Also, the communication controlling unit 113 may omitthe transmission of the notice indicative of the completion of thetexting processing to this communication terminal 20-3.

The explanation with reference to the exemplary operations shown in FIG.8 assumes an instance where the texting completion notice is transmittedto the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 participating in the talkgroup G1. However, this is not a limitation. The texting completionnotice may also be transmitted to communication terminals which are notcurrently participating in the talk group G1 but which are eligible toparticipate in the talk group G1. Here, for example, the storage 12 ofthe processing server 10 stores, for each talk group, a list of userseligible as talk group participants. The communication controlling unit113 of the processing server 10, referring to the list stored in thestorage 12, transmits the texting completion notice to the users who canparticipate in the talk group G1.

Moreover, the texting completion notice may be transmitted to one ormore communication terminals satisfying a predetermined condition, amongthe communication terminals eligible to participate in the talk groupG1. The predetermined condition may include, for example, that thecommunication terminal is located within a certain distance from thecommunication terminal possessing the transmission right in light eachcommunication terminal's location information stored in the storage 12,that the communication terminal is labeled a given flag, and so on.

The generated text data is output to the storage controlling unit 114and the translation processing unit 116 (step S86). The storagecontrolling unit 114 stores the text data generated by the textingprocessing unit 115 in the storage 12 (step S87).

The translation processing unit 116 generates translated text data byperforming translation processing on the text data generated by thetexting processing unit 115 (step S88).

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure ofthe translated text data generated by the translation processing unit116 appearing in FIG. 2 . The translated text data of FIG. 11 includesan area for storing a text ID, an area for storing a language code, andan area for storing translated text main data. The language codeindicates the language corresponding to the translated text main data.As the text ID here, the original, pre-translated text data and thetranslated text data adopt the same ID.

More specifically, and for example, the translation processing unit 116extracts the text main data from the text data generated by the textingprocessing unit 115. The translation processing unit 116 translates theextracted text main data into the corresponding language, for everylanguage code different from the language code associated with the“User01”—in the case of the example of FIG. 6 , into the text main datain the language corresponding to “Language Code 02”, i.e., English—. Thetranslation processing unit 116 generates the translated text data byplacing the corresponding data members into the applicable areas. Thatis, the translation processing unit 116 arranges the “Text01”, “LanguageCode 02”, and the translated text main data in the respective areascorresponding to these data members, so that the translated text data isgenerated.

Upon generation of the translated text data, the translation processingunit 116 notifies the communication controlling unit 113 of thecompletion of the translation processing (step S89). This notice ofcompleting the translation processing includes, for example, the text IDand the language code of the generated translated text data. Uponreceipt of the notice of completing the translation processing, thecommunication controlling unit 113 transmits a notice indicative of thecompletion of the translation processing to the communication terminal20-3 held by the “User03”, for which the language code different fromthat for the “User01” is set, via the network NW and the base station30-3 (step S810). Note that if, in step S85, the texting completionnotice has not been transmitted to the communication terminal 20-3, thetexting completion notice may be transmitted together with thetranslation completion notice to the communication terminal 20-3. Thegenerated translated text data is output to the storage controlling unit114 (step S811). The storage controlling unit 114 stores the translatedtext data generated by the translation processing unit 116 in thestorage 12 (step S812). The processing from step S81 to step S812 isrepeated until the call comes to an end.

The exemplary operations shown in FIG. 8 have been explained, assumingthat the texting completion notice is a notice that is transmitted tothe communication terminals every time the texting processing iscompleted. This is not a limitation. For communication terminals whichare not currently participating in the talk group but which are eligibleto participate in the talk group, it is also possible to transmit thetexting completion notice only once after the termination of a call. Theusers are thereby allowed to recognize that there is the text datacorresponding to the call.

Next, description will be given of how the text data and the translatedtext data are displayed on the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3. Inthe context of a certain embodiment, display modes in the communicationterminals 20-1 to 20-3 include, for example, a first display mode and asecond display mode. In the first display mode, the PTT call startrequesting button is displayed together with delivered voices and theircorresponding characters. In the second display mode, the PTT call startrequesting button is displayed, while voices and the correspondingcharacters are not displayed. Whether to adopt the first display mode orthe second display mode depends on the user setting. The first displaymode will be described first, and then the second display mode will bedescribed.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining exemplary operations of theprocessing server 10 and the communication terminals 20-1 and 20-2appearing in FIG. 1 , for the communication terminals 20-1 and 20-2 tocause their respective displays to display the characters correspondingto voices. The explanation with reference to FIG. 12 will assume aninstance where the first display mode is set.

The communication terminal 20-1 with the transmission right, and thecommunication terminal 20-2 for which the same language code as that forthe communication terminal 20-1 is set, receive a texting completionnotice from the processing server 10 (step S121). The texting completionnotice here contains the text ID of the text data after completion ofthe texting processing. The explanation with reference to FIG. 12follows the explanation with reference to FIG. 8 , so that it will besupposed that the texting completion notice contains the text ID“Text01”.

In response to receiving the texting completion notice, thecommunication controlling unit 211 of the communication terminal 20-1transmits a text data request notice indicative of a request for thetext data containing the text ID “Text01” to the processing server 10via the base station 30-1 and the network NW (step S122). The text datarequest notice here is labeled the user ID “User01” of the communicationterminal 20-1 as the requestor. The communication controlling unit 211of the communication terminal 20-2 also transmits a text data requestnotice indicative of a request for the text data containing the text ID“Text01”, together with the user ID “User02” of the communicationterminal 20-2, to the processing server 10 (step S122).

Upon receipt of the text data request notices, the storage controllingunit 114 of the processing server 10 reads the text data containing thetext ID “Text01” from the storage 12 (step S123). The communicationcontrolling unit 113 of the processing server 10 converts the text dataread from the storage 12 into packet-form data (step S124). Thecommunication controlling unit 113 generates duplicates of the dataobtained through the packet-form conversion, as many as the number ofthe user IDs appended to the text data request notices. Thecommunication controlling unit 113 transmits the duplicates of the datato the respective IP addresses specified based on the user IDs (stepS125). In this manner, the text data after the conversion into a packetform is transmitted to the communication terminals 20-1 and 20-2.

In response to receiving the text data from the processing server 10,the storage controlling unit 212 of each of the communication terminals20-1 and 20-2 stores the received text data in the own RAM. The displaycontrolling unit 213 of each of the communication terminals 20-1 and20-2 reads the text main data of the text data stored in the RAM. Thedisplay controlling unit 213 displays characters based on the read textmain data as the characters corresponding to the voice ID “Talk01”, onthe display screen for the talk group G1 identified by the talk group ID“Group01” (step S126).

At this time, the display controlling unit 213 of the communicationterminal 20-1 recognizes, based on the voice ID “Talk01”, that theinstant call is the call initiated by the own terminal. The displaycontrolling unit 213 accordingly causes the display to display thecharacters in the form that can understandably shows that thecorresponding call has been initiated by the own terminal. Any techniquemay be discretionarily adopted for providing the form of showing that acall concerned is its own call; for example, the characters may bedisplayed at different positions, in different colors, in differentfonts, and so on.

FIG. 13 includes schematic diagrams showing examples of how thecharacters are displayed after the processing as explained withreference to FIG. 12 . The left part of FIG. 13 is a schematic diagramas an example of the display that may be presented on the display of thecommunication terminal 20-1 with the transmission right. The right partof FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram as an example of the display that maybe presented on the display of the communication terminal 20-2 as areceiver terminal. As seen from FIG. 13 , characters L1 for thecommunication terminal 20-1 are displayed at the right end of itsdisplay. On the other hand, characters L2 for the communication terminal20-2 are displayed at the left end of its display. Note that while FIG.13 gives the exemplary forms where each of the PTT call start requestingbuttons B1 is displayed at the lower left part of the correspondingdisplay, there is no limitation to the position for displaying the PTTcall start requesting button B1. Where to arrange the button may befreely determined as long as such a layout allows for user's easy tapoperations.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining exemplary operations of theprocessing server 10 and the communication terminal 20-3 appearing inFIG. 1 , for the communication terminal 20-3 to cause its display todisplay the characters based on text data and translated text data. Theexplanation with reference to FIG. 14 will assume an instance where thefirst display mode is set.

The communication terminal 20-3, for which the language code differentfrom that for the communication terminal 20-1 is set, receives a textingcompletion notice and a translation completion notice from theprocessing server 10 (step S141). The texting completion notice herecontains the text ID of the text data after completion of the textingprocessing. Also, the translation completion notice contains the text IDof the translated text data after completion of the translationprocessing, as well as the language code used in the translationprocessing. Note that the explanation with reference to FIG. 14 followsthe explanation with reference to FIG. 8 , so that it will be supposedthat the texting completion notice contains the text ID “Text01”. Itwill also be supposed that the translation completion notice containsthe text ID “Text01” and the language code “Language Code 02”.

In response to receiving the texting completion notice and thetranslation completion notice, the communication controlling unit 211 ofthe communication terminal 20-3 transmits a request notice indicative ofa request for the text data containing the text ID “Text01”, and alsofor the translated text data containing the text ID “Text01” and thelanguage code “Language Code 02”, to the processing server 10 via thebase station 30-2 and the network NW (step S142). The request noticehere is labeled the user ID “User03” of the communication terminal 20-3as the requestor.

Upon receipt of this request notice, the storage controlling unit 114 ofthe processing server 10 reads the text data containing the text ID“Text01” and the translated text data containing the text ID “Text01”and the language code “Language Code 02” from the storage 12 (stepS143). The communication controlling unit 113 of the processing server10 converts the text data and the translated text data, read from thestorage 12, into packet-form data (step S144). The communicationcontrolling unit 113 generates a duplicate of the data obtained throughthe packet-form conversion, according to the number of the user IDappended to the request notice. The communication controlling unit 113transmits the duplicate of the data to the IP address specified based onthe user ID (step S145). In this manner, the text data and thetranslated text data after the conversion into a packet form aretransmitted to the communication terminal 20-3.

In response to receiving the text data and the translated text data fromthe processing server 10, the storage controlling unit 212 of thecommunication terminal 20-3 stores the received text data and thereceived translated text data in the RAM. The display controlling unit213 of the communication terminal 20-3 reads the text main data and thetranslated text main data of the respective text data and translatedtext data stored in the RAM. The display controlling unit 213 displayscharacters based on these text main data and translated text main data,as the characters corresponding to the voice ID “Talk01”, on the displayscreen for the talk group G1 identified by the talk group ID “Group01”(step S146).

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing an example of how the charactersare displayed on the communication terminal 20-3, after the processingas explained with reference to FIG. 14 . As seen from FIG. 15 ,characters L3 are displayed at the left end of the display of thecommunication terminal 20-3 as a receiver terminal. The characters L3are constituted by the characters based on the text main data and thecharacters based on the translated text main data. Note that thecharacters based on the text main data and the characters based on thetranslated text main data are not required to be displayed in a singlearea. For example, these characters may be displayed in different areas.

The exemplary operations shown in FIG. 14 have been explained, assumingthat the communication terminal 20-3 receives the texting completionnotice and the translation completion notice at the same time. However,as explained in relation to the exemplary operations shown in FIG. 8 ,the transmission of the translation completion notice may be performedbehindhand of the transmission of the texting completion notice. In suchcases, the communication controlling unit 211 of the communicationterminal 20-3 may forgo transmission of a request notice of requestingthe text data to the processing server 10 in response to the receipt ofthe texting completion notice, but may wait for the receipt of thetranslation completion notice and then transmit a request notice ofrequesting both the text data and the translated text data.

On the occasions of the translation completion notice arriving after thetexting completion notice, it is also possible for the communicationcontrolling unit 211 of the communication terminal 20-3 to transmit arequest notice of requesting the text data to the processing server 10in response to the receipt of the texting completion notice, andtransmit a request notice of requesting the translated text data to theprocessing server 10 in response to the receipt of the translationcompletion notice.

Next, description will be given of the operations in an instance wherethe second display mode is set. FIG. 16 is a diagram for explainingexemplary operations of the processing server 10 and the communicationterminals 20-1 and 20-2 appearing in FIG. 1 , for the communicationterminals 20-1 and 20-2 to cause their respective displays to displaythe characters corresponding to voices.

The communication terminal 20-1 with the transmission right, and thecommunication terminal 20-2 for which the same language code as that forthe communication terminal 20-1 is set, receive a texting completionnotice from the processing server 10 (step S161). The explanation withreference to FIG. 16 will suppose that the texting completion noticecontains the text ID “Text06”.

Upon receipt of the texting completion notice, the display controllingunit 213 of each of the communication terminals 20-1 and 20-2 causes theown display to display an indication of the completion of the textingprocessing in such a manner that the indication does not overlap withthe PTT call start requesting button currently displayed (step S162).FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing an example of how the textingcompletion indication is displayed by the communication terminals 20-1and 20-2 appearing in FIG. 1 . In the example shown in FIG. 17 , theindication of the completion of the texting processing is presented as amessage “You have unread text”. Note that the texting completionindication may instead be given as a symbol, etc. Also, while FIG. 17shows the exemplary form where a PTT call start requesting button B2 isdisplayed at the central part of the display, there is no limitation tothe position for displaying the PTT call start requesting button B2.Where to arrange the button may be freely determined as long as such alayout allows for user's easy tap operations.

The users of the respective communication terminals 20-1 and 20-2, uponrecognizing the texting completion indication displayed on the owndisplay, determine whether or not the characters corresponding to voicesneed to be displayed. If it is determined that the display of thecharacters is needed, each of the users inputs a request for displayingthe characters via the input interface 23 (step S163). For example, eachuser may tap the region on the display, where the texting completionindication is displayed.

In response to the user's input of the request for displaying thecharacters, the communication controlling unit 211 of the communicationterminal 20-1 transmits a display start request notice indicative of arequest for starting character display from the text data containing thetext ID “Text06”, to the processing server 10 via the base station 30-1and the network NW. The display start request notice here is labeled theuser ID “User01” of the communication terminal 20-1 as the requestor.Meanwhile, in response to its user's input of the request for displayingthe characters, the communication controlling unit 211 of thecommunication terminal 20-2 also transmits a display start requestnotice indicative of a request for starting character display from thetext data containing the text ID “Text06”, together with the user ID“User02” of the communication terminal 20-2, to the processing server 10(step S164).

The storage controlling unit 114 of the processing server 10, uponreceipt of the display start request notices, reads the text datacontaining the text ID “Text06” from the storage 12, and acquires, forexample, the talk group ID contained in the read text data. The storagecontrolling unit 114 reads items of the text data, each containing thesame talk group ID as the acquired talk group ID, from the storage 12 asmuch as a preset data amount (step S165). The preset data amount heremay be, for example, a preset number of the text data items which werestored concurrently with or prior to the item of the text datacontaining the text ID “Text06”. Consequently, in the present exemplarycase, the text data items containing the respective text IDs “Text01” to“Text06” are read from the storage 12.

The communication controlling unit 113 of the processing server 10sequentially converts the multiple text data items read from the storage12 into packet-form data (step S166). The communication controlling unit113 generates duplicates of the data obtained through the packet-formconversion, as many as the number of the user IDs appended to thedisplay start request notices. The communication controlling unit 113transmits the duplicates of the data to the IP addresses specified basedon the user IDs (step S167). In this manner, the multiple text dataitems, having been converted into a packet form, are transmitted to thecommunication terminals 20-1 and 20-2.

In response to receiving the multiple text data items from theprocessing server 10, the storage controlling unit 212 of each of thecommunication terminals 20-1 and 20-2 sequentially stores the receivedtext data items in the own RAM. The display controlling unit 213 of eachof the communication terminals 20-1 and 20-2, upon storage of the textdata items in the RAM, reads the text main data of each text data. Thedisplay controlling unit 213 displays characters based on the read textmain data on the display screen for the talk group identified by thegiven talk group ID (step S168).

Note that the explanation with reference to the exemplary operationsshown in FIG. 16 has assumed an instance where the texting completionnotice is received by the communication terminals 20-1 and 20-3participating in the talk group G1. This is not a limitation. Thetexting completion notice may also be transmitted to communicationterminals which are not currently participating in the talk group G1 butwhich are eligible to participate in the talk group G1. When the textingcompletion notice is transmitted to a communication terminal which iseligible to participate in the talk group G1 but not yet an actualparticipant, the indication of the completion of the texting processingfor the talk group G1 may be presented in this communication terminalas, for example, a message “You have unread text for talk group G1”. Theindication of the completion of the texting processing for the talkgroup G1 may instead be given as a symbol, etc., at the position on thecommunication terminal's display, set for the talk group G1. The user isthereby allowed to check the contents of the calls in the talk groups itcan participate in, through the corresponding characters, even if theuser is not the actual participant of such talk groups. Optionally, whena user as a non-participant in the talk group G1 checks the contents ofa call in the talk group G1 through characters, this user may beadmitted to the talk group G1.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining exemplary operations of theprocessing server 10 and the communication terminal 20-3 appearing inFIG. 1 , for the communication terminal 20-3 to cause its display todisplay the characters based on text data and translated text data.

In FIG. 18 , the communication terminal 20-3, for which the languagecode different from that for the communication terminal 20-1 is set,receives a texting completion notice and a translation completion noticefrom the processing server 10 (step S181). The explanation withreference to FIG. 18 will suppose that the texting completion noticecontains the text ID “Text06”. It will also be supposed that thetranslation completion notice contains the text ID “Text06” and thelanguage code “Language Code 02”.

Upon receipt of the texting completion notice and the translationcompletion notice, the display controlling unit 213 of the communicationterminal 20-3 causes the display to display an indication of thecompletion of the texting processing and the translation processing insuch a manner that the indication does not overlap with the PTT callstart requesting button currently displayed (step S182).

Note that, as explained in relation to the exemplary operations shown inFIG. 8 , there may be cases where the communication terminal 20-3receives the texting completion notice and the translation completionnotice at the same time, and where the communication terminal 20-3receives the translation completion notice after the texting completionnotice. If the texting completion notice and the translation completionnotice are received at once, the display controlling unit 213 of thecommunication terminal 20-3 displays, in response to their receipt, anindication of the completion of the texting processing and an indicationof the completion of the translation processing. In this case, a form orsetting may be adopted so that the display of only the textingcompletion indication by the display controlling unit 213 will beconstrued as informing that the translation processing has also beencompleted.

If the translation completion notice is received after the textingcompletion notice, the display controlling unit 213 of the communicationterminal 20-3 may display the texting completion indication in responseto the receipt of the texting completion notice, and display thetranslation completion indication in response to the receipt of thetranslation completion notice. Also, the display controlling unit 213may forgo the display of the texting completion indication in responseto the receipt of the texting completion notice, but may display thetexting completion indication and the translation completion indicationupon receipt of the translation completion notice. Here, a form orsetting may be adopted so that the display of only the textingcompletion indication by the display controlling unit 213 will beconstrued as informing that the translation processing has also beencompleted.

Upon recognizing the texting completion indication displayed on thedisplay, or both the texting completion indication and the translationcompletion indication displayed on the display, the user of thecommunication terminal 20-3 determines whether or not the characterscorresponding to voices and a translation of these characters need to bedisplayed. If it is determined that the display of the characters andthe translation is needed, the user inputs a request for displaying thecharacters and the translation via the input interface 23 (step S183).For example, the user may tap the region on the display, where thetexting completion indication and the translation completion indicationare displayed.

In response to the user's input of the request for displaying thecharacters and the translation, the communication controlling unit 211of the communication terminal 20-3 transmits a display start requestnotice indicative of a request for starting character display from thetext data containing the text ID “Text06”, and also for startingcharacter display from the translated text data containing the text ID“Text06” and the language code “Language Code 02”, to the processingserver 10 via the base station 30-2 and the network NW (step S184). Thedisplay start request notice here is labeled the user ID “User03” of thecommunication terminal 20-3 as the requestor.

The storage controlling unit 114 of the processing server 10, uponreceipt of the display start request notice, reads the text datacontaining the text ID “Text06” from the storage 12, and acquires, forexample, the talk group ID contained in the read text data. The storagecontrolling unit 114 reads items of the text data, each containing thesame talk group ID as the acquired talk group ID, from the storage 12 asmuch as a preset data amount. The preset data amount here may be, forexample, a preset number of the text data items which were storedconcurrently with or prior to the item of the text data containing thetext ID “Text06”. Consequently, in the present exemplary case, the textdata items containing the respective text IDs “Text01” to “Text06” areread from the storage 12. The storage controlling unit 114 also readsitems of the translated text data, containing the same text IDs as theread text data items, respectively, and also containing the languagecode “Language Code 02”, from the storage 12 (step S185). That is, inthis exemplary case, the translated text data items containing therespective text IDs “Text01” to “Text06” and the language code “LanguageCode 02” are read from the storage 12.

The communication controlling unit 113 of the processing server 10converts the text data and the translated text data, read from thestorage 12, sequentially into packet-form data (step S186). Thecommunication controlling unit 113 generates a duplicate of the dataobtained through the packet-form conversion, according to the number ofthe user ID appended to the display start request notice. Thecommunication controlling unit 113 transmits the duplicate of the datato the IP address specified based on the user ID (step S187). In thismanner, the multiple text data items and the multiple translated textdata items, having been converted into a packet form, are transmitted tothe communication terminal 20-3.

In response to receiving the multiple text data items and the multipletranslated text data items from the processing server 10, the storagecontrolling unit 212 of the communication terminal 20-3 sequentiallystores the received text data items and the received translated textdata items in the RAM. The display controlling unit 213 of thecommunication terminal 20-3 reads the text main data and the translatedtext main data of the respective text data and translated text datawhich have been stored in the RAM and which are labeled the same textID. The display controlling unit 213 displays characters based on theread text main data and the read translated text main data on thedisplay screen for the talk group identified by the given talk group ID(step S188).

Note that the explanations of the exemplary operations shown in FIG. 14and FIG. 18 have assumed the instances where the processing server 10transmits the texting completion notice and the translation completionnotice to the communication terminal 20-3 with a setting of the languagedifferent from that for the communication terminal 20-1 possessing thetransmission right. However, this is not a limitation. The processingserver 10 may occasionally transmit only the translation completionnotice to the communication terminal 20-3. In such cases, the display ofthe communication terminal 20-3 may present only the characters based onthe translated text data.

Now, description will be given of the reproduction of voicescorresponding to the characters displayed on the display of eachcommunication terminal, for example, each of the communication terminals20-1 and 20-2.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining exemplary operations of theprocessing server 10 and the communication terminals, e.g., thecommunication terminals 20-1 and 20-2, shown in FIG. 1 , for thecommunication terminals 20-1 and 20-2 to reproduce voices correspondingto the characters displayed on their respective displays.

First, it will be supposed that characters are currently displayed oneach of the displays of the communication terminals 20-1 and 20-2 (stepS191). The explanation with reference to FIG. 19 assumes that the textdata for the characters displayed on the displays contains the voice ID“Talk01” and the call ID “0”. If the users of the respectivecommunication terminals 20-1 and 20-2 desire reproduction of voicescorresponding to the characters displayed on the own display, the usersinput a reproduction request related to the characters via the own inputinterface 23 (step S192). For example, each of the users may tap theregion on the display, where the subject characters are displayed.

In response to the user's input of this reproduction request for voicescorresponding to the characters, the communication controlling unit 211of the communication terminal 20-1 transmits a reproduction requestnotice indicative of a request for reproducing the call data containingthe voice ID “Talk01” and the call ID “0”, to the processing server 10via the base station 30-1 and the network NW. The reproduction requestnotice here is labeled the user ID “User01” of the communicationterminal 20-1 as the requestor. Meanwhile, in response to its user'sinput of the reproduction request for voices corresponding to thecharacters, the communication controlling unit 211 of the communicationterminal 20-2 also transmits a reproduction request notice indicative ofa request for reproducing the call data containing the voice ID “Talk01”and the call ID “0”, together with the user ID “User02” of thecommunication terminal 20-2, to the processing server 10 (step S193).

Upon receipt of the reproduction request notices, the storagecontrolling unit 114 of the processing server 10 reads the call datacontaining the voice ID “Talk01” and the call ID “0” from the storage 12(step S194). The communication controlling unit 113 of the processingserver 10 modifies the structure of the call data read from the storage12 as needed, and converts the data into packet-form data (step S195).The communication controlling unit 113 generates duplicates of the dataobtained through the packet-form conversion, as many as the number ofthe requestors. The communication controlling unit 113 transmits theduplicates of the data to the IP addresses specified based on the userIDs (step S196). In this manner, the call data after the conversion intoa packet form is transmitted to the communication terminals 20-1 and20-2.

Upon receipt of the call data from the processing server 10, the storagecontrolling unit 212 of each of the communication terminals 20-1 and20-2 stores the received call data in the own RAM. The reproductioncontrolling unit 214 of each of the communication terminals 20-1 and20-2 reads the main data of the call data stored in the RAM, andcontrols the own speaker based on the read main data (step S197).

Next, description will be given of the processing of the communicationterminal 20-1 with the transmission right, for correcting the characterscorresponding to voices.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining exemplary operations of theprocessing server 10 and the communication terminal 20-1 appearing inFIG. 1 , for the communication terminal 20-1 to correct the charactersdisplayed on the display.

First, it will be supposed that characters are currently displayed onthe display of the communication terminal 20-1 with the transmissionright, as well as on each of the displays of the communication terminals20-2 and 20-3 participating in the same talk group G1 as thecommunication terminal 20-1 (step S201). The explanation with referenceto FIG. 20 assumes that these characters are displayed based on the textdata containing the talk group ID “Group01” and the text ID “Text01”.

The user of the communication terminal 20-1 views the charactersdisplayed on the display, and determines whether or not a correction tothe characters is necessary. If it is determined that a correction tothe characters is necessary, the user inputs a request for correctingthe characters via the input interface 23 (step S202). For example, theuser may tap the region on the display, where the characters aredisplayed.

In response to the user's input of the character correction request, thecorrection controlling unit 216 of the communication terminal 20-1generates text data containing corrected text main data (step S203).More specifically, and for example, upon receipt of the input of thecharacter correction request from the user, the correction controllingunit 216 determines whether or not the characters targeted by the inputcharacter correction request belong to the call for which the ownterminal is in possession of the transmission right, by referring to thetalk group ID contained in the corresponding text data. If it isdetermined that the characters targeted by the character correctionrequest belong to the call for which the own terminal is in possessionof the transmission right, the correction controlling unit 216 causesthe display to display a correction form for correcting the characters.The correction controlling unit 216 corrects the characters displayed onthe display, according to the entries made through this correction form.The correction controlling unit 216 puts the corrected text main datainto text data containing the talk group ID, the text ID, the voice ID,and the call ID, which are the same as the respective IDs in the textdata for the characters before the correction. The communicationcontrolling unit 211 of the communication terminal 20-1 modifies thestructure of the text data containing the corrected text main data asneeded, converts the data into packet-form data, and transmits it to theprocessing server 10 (step S204).

The communication controlling unit 113 of the processing server 10, uponreceipt of the text data from the communication terminal 20-1, extractsthe talk group ID “Group01” and the text ID “Text01” from the receivedtext data. The communication controlling unit 113 notifies thecommunication terminals 20-2 and 20-3 held by the respective “User02”and “User03” participating in the talk group G1 identified by theextracted talk group ID “Group01”, of the update of the display ofcharacters based on the text data containing the text ID “Text01” (stepS205).

Also, upon receipt of the text data from the communication terminal20-1, the storage controlling unit 114 of the processing server 10extracts the text ID “Text01” from the received text data. The storagecontrolling unit 114 deletes the presently stored text data containingthe text ID “Text01” from the storage 12, and stores the received textdata in the storage 12 (step S206).

Further, upon receipt of the text data from the communication terminal20-1, the translation processing unit 116 of the processing server 10generates translated text data by performing translation processing forthe language corresponding to, for example, the “language Code 02” onthe received text data (step S207). Upon generation of the translatedtext data, the translation processing unit 116 notifies thecommunication controlling unit 113 of the completion of the translationprocessing (step S208). In response to being notified of the completionof the translation processing, the communication controlling unit 113transmits a notice indicative of the completion of the translationprocessing to the communication terminal 20-3 held by the “User03”, forwhich the language code different from that for the “User01” is set(step S209). The generated translated text data is output to the storagecontrolling unit 114 (step S2010). The storage controlling unit 114deletes the presently stored translated text data containing the text ID“Text01” and the language code “Language Code 02” from the storage 12,and stores the translated text data generated by the translationprocessing unit 116 in the storage 12 (step S2011).

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining exemplary operations of theprocessing server 10 and the communication terminal 20-2 appearing inFIG. 1 , for the communication terminal 20-2 to cause its display todisplay the characters having been corrected by the communicationterminal 20-1. The explanation with reference to FIG. 21 will assume aninstance where the first display mode is set.

The communication terminal 20-2, for which the same language code asthat for the communication terminal 20-1 is set, receives an updatenotice from the processing server 10 (step S211). The update notice herecontains the text ID of the corrected text data. Note that theexplanation with reference to FIG. 21 follows the explanation withreference to FIG. 20 , so that it will be supposed that the updatenotice contains the text ID “Text01”. In response to receiving theupdate notice, the communication controlling unit 211 of thecommunication terminal 20-2 transmits a text data request noticeindicative of a request for the text data containing the text ID“Text01” to the processing server 10 (step S212). The text data requestnotice here is labeled the user ID “User02” of the communicationterminal 20-2 as the requestor.

Upon receipt of the text data request notice, the storage controllingunit 114 of the processing server 10 reads the text data containing thetext ID “Text01” from the storage 12 (step S213). The communicationcontrolling unit 113 of the processing server 10 converts the text dataread from the storage 12 into packet-form data (step S214). Thecommunication controlling unit 113 generates a duplicate of the dataobtained through the packet-form conversion, according to the number ofthe user ID appended to the text data request notice. The communicationcontrolling unit 113 transmits the duplicate of the data to the IPaddress specified based on the user ID (step S215). In this manner, thetext data after the conversion into a packet form is transmitted to thecommunication terminal 20-2.

In response to receiving the text data from the processing server 10,the storage controlling unit 212 of the communication terminal 20-2stores the received text data in the RAM. The storage controlling unit212, upon storing the text data in the RAM, extracts the text ID“Text01” from the stored text data. With reference to the extracted textID “Text01”, the storage controlling unit 212 deletes the text datapreviously stored in the RAM and containing the text ID “Text01”. Inthis way, the text data before the correction is cleared from the RAM.The display controlling unit 213 of the communication terminal 20-2reads the text main data of the text data newly stored in the RAM. Thedisplay controlling unit 213 displays characters based on the read textmain data as the characters corresponding to the voice ID “Talk01”, onthe display screen for the talk group G1 identified by the talk group ID“Group01” (step S216). In this manner, the currently displayedcharacters, which are based on the text data before the correction, arereplaced by the characters based on the received text data.

FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining exemplary operations of theprocessing server 10 and the communication terminal 20-3 appearing inFIG. 1 , for the communication terminal 20-3 to cause its display todisplay the characters having been corrected by the communicationterminal 20-1. The explanation with reference to FIG. 22 will assume aninstance where the first display mode is set.

The communication terminal 20-3, for which the language code differentfrom that for the communication terminal 20-1 is set, receives an updatenotice and a translation completion notice from the processing server 10(step S221). The update notice here contains the text ID of thecorrected text data. Also, the translation completion notice containsthe text ID of the translated text data after completion of thetranslation processing, as well as the language code for the translatedtext data. Note that the explanation with reference to FIG. 22 followsthe explanation with reference to FIG. 20 , so that it will be supposedthat the update notice contains the text ID “Text01”. It will also besupposed that the translation completion notice contains the text ID“Text01” and the language code “Language Code 02”.

In response to receiving the update notice and the translationcompletion notice, the communication controlling unit 211 of thecommunication terminal 20-3 transmits a request notice indicative of arequest for the text data containing the text ID “Text01”, and also forthe translated text data containing the text ID “Text01” and thelanguage code “Language Code 02”, to the processing server 10 (stepS222). The request notice here is labeled the user ID “User03” of thecommunication terminal 20-3 as the requestor.

Upon receipt of this request notice, the storage controlling unit 114 ofthe processing server 10 reads the text data containing the text ID“Text01” and the translated text data containing the text ID “Text01”and the language code “Language Code 02” from the storage 12 (stepS223). The communication controlling unit 113 of the processing server10 converts the text data and the translated text data, read from thestorage 12, into packet-form data (step S224). The communicationcontrolling unit 113 generates a duplicate of the data obtained throughthe packet-form conversion, according to the number of the user IDappended to the request notice. The communication controlling unit 113transmits the duplicate of the data to the IP address specified based onthe user ID (step S225). In this manner, the text data and thetranslated text data after the conversion into a packet form aretransmitted to the communication terminal 20-3.

In response to receiving the text data and the translated text data fromthe processing server 10, the storage controlling unit 212 of thecommunication terminal 20-3 stores the received text data and thereceived translated text data in the RAM. The storage controlling unit212, upon storing the text data and the translated text data in the RAM,extracts the text ID “Text01” and the language code “Language Code 02”from the stored text data and the stored translated text data. Withreference to the extracted text ID “Text01” and the extracted languagecode “Language Code 02”, the storage controlling unit 212 deletes thetext data previously stored in the RAM and containing the text ID“Text01”, and also deletes the translated text data previously stored inthe RAM and containing the text ID “Text01” and the language code“Language Code 02”. In this way, the text data before the correction,and its corresponding translated text data are cleared from the RAM. Thedisplay controlling unit 213 of the communication terminal 20-3 readsthe text main data and the translated text main data of the respectivetext data and translated text data newly stored in the RAM. The displaycontrolling unit 213 displays characters based on these text main dataand translated text main data, as the characters corresponding to thevoice ID “Talk01”, on the display screen for the talk group G1identified by the talk group ID “Group01” (step S226). In this manner,the currently displayed characters, which are based on the text data andthe translated text data before the correction, are replaced by thecharacters based on the received text data and the received translatedtext data.

As described above, according to the embodiments, the texting processingunit 115 of the processing server 10 is adapted to generate text databased on the voice data transmitted from the communication terminal 20-1possessing the transmission right. The communication controlling unit113 of the processing server 10 is adapted to then transmit thegenerated text data to the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3participating in the talk group G1. This configuration allows the usersof the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m, participating in a talkgroup, to check the contents of a call using the display of charactersas the call converted into a text form. The configuration also allowsusers who are surrounded by an environment not permitting comfortablelistening of voices, or users who have difficulties in hearing voices,to check the contents of the call.

Therefore, the communication system 1 and the processing server 10according to the embodiments can reduce the miscommunication ofinformation.

Also according to the embodiments, the texting processing unit 115 ofthe processing server 10 is adapted to generate text data based onmultiple items of voice data retained in the cache memory. With thisconfiguration, the processing server 10 can generate text data whilemaintaining the quality of voice communications.

Also according to the embodiments, the texting processing unit 115 ofthe processing server 10 is adapted to generate, in response to voicedata retained in the cache memory reaching the predetermined volume, orin response to the release of the transmission right from thecommunication terminal 20-1 before the voice data reaching thepredetermined volume, text data based on the multiple voice data itemsretained in the cache memory. In other words, a long call is sectionedinto portions of a certain length of time and converted into text forms.With this configuration, the processing server 10 can generate text datawhile minimizing the delay from the voice data. The configuration canalso enable sequential texting processing of the voice data, even duringa long, ongoing call of a caller.

According to the embodiments, the storage controlling unit 114 of theprocessing server 10 is adapted to store the generated text data in thestorage 12. The texting processing unit 115, in response to thegeneration of the text data, gives a notice indicative of the completionof the texting processing to the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3participating in the talk group G1. The communication terminals inreceipt of this texting completion notice return a text data requestnotice, and the communication controlling unit 113 is adapted to thentransmit, in response to the text data request notice, the text datastored in the storage 12 to the requestor communication terminals. Withthis configuration, the processing server 10 enables the communicationterminals 20-1 to 20-m to display the characters based on the text dataon their respective displays, without requiring them to store the textdata in the own storages 22. As such, since the communication terminals20-1 to 20-m do not keep text data in their storages, informationleakage can be prevented.

Also according to the embodiments, the communication controlling unit113 of the processing server 10 is adapted so that, when thecommunication terminal which has received a texting completion noticereturns a display start request notice indicative of a request forstarting character display based on the text data, the communicationcontrolling unit 113 transmits multiple text data items previouslystored in the storage 12 to the requestor communication terminal. Withthis configuration, the users of the communication terminals 20-1 to20-m can check the flow of calls through corresponding characters, evenif the users participate in a talk group in the middle of the ongoingtalk or the users start character display for voices from the middle ofthe calls.

According to the embodiments, the storage controlling unit 114 of theprocessing server 10 is adapted to store the voice data used forgenerating text data, in the storage 12 as call data. The communicationcontrolling unit 113 is adapted so that, when the communication terminalwhich has received the text data returns a reproduction request forvoices corresponding to the text data, the communication controllingunit 113 transmits the call data corresponding to the text datarequested for reproduction, among the set of call data stored in thestorage 12, to the communication terminal as the reproduction requestor.With this configuration, the users of the communication terminals 20-1to 20-m can listen to the actual call corresponding to the charactersdisplayed on their respective displays, at any desired timing. Moreover,even if the characters on the display involve an error, the users areallowed to verify the call contents for accuracy.

According to the embodiments, the communication controlling unit 113 ofthe processing server 10 is adapted so that, when text data is correctedby the communication terminal 20-1 with the transmission right, thecommunication controlling unit 113 transmits the corrected text data tothe communication terminals 20-2 and 20-3 participating in the talkgroup G1. With this configuration, therefore, even in case the textingprocessing of call data by the texting processing unit 115 involved amisconversion, etc., the user who made the call can correct thecorresponding characters displayed by the own communication terminal,and have other communication terminals reflect the correction on theircharacters.

According to the embodiments, the communication controlling unit 113 ofthe processing server 10 is adapted so that, when text data is correctedby the communication terminal 20-1 with the transmission right, thecommunication controlling unit 113 sends a notice indicative of theupdate of display to the communication terminals 20-2 and 20-3participating in the talk group G1. Then, when the communicationterminals 20 which have received the update notice return a request fortransmission of the corrected text data, the communication controllingunit 113 transmits the corrected text data stored in the storage 12 tothe requestor communication terminals 20. With this configuration, theprocessing server 10 enables the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m todisplay the characters based on the corrected text data on theirrespective displays, without requiring them to store the corrected textdata in the own storages 22.

According to the embodiments, the translation processing unit 116 of theprocessing server 10 is adapted to generate translated text data byperforming translation processing on the text data generated by thetexting processing unit 115. The communication controlling unit 113 isadapted to then transmit the generated translated text data to, amongthe communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 participating in the talk groupG1, the communication terminal 20-3 with a setting of the languagedifferent from that for the communication terminal 20-1 possessing thetransmission right. With this configuration, the users in a talk group,even having different language backgrounds, can all understand thecontents of calls. That is, the configuration allows for multi-languagecommunications.

According to the embodiments, the storage controlling unit 114 of theprocessing server 10 is adapted to store the translated text datagenerated by the translation processing unit 116 in the storage 12. Thetranslation processing unit 116, in response to the generation of thetranslated text data, gives a notice indicative of the completion of thetranslation processing to, among the communication terminals 20-1 to20-3 participating in the talk group G1, the communication terminal 20-3with a setting of the language different from that for the communicationterminal 20-1 possessing the transmission right. The communicationcontrolling unit 113 is adapted so that, when the communication terminal20-3 in receipt of this translation completion notice returns a requestfor transmission of the translated text data, the communicationcontrolling unit 113 reads the requested translated text data from thestorage 12 and transmits it to the communication terminal 20-3 as therequestor. With this configuration, the processing server 10 enables thecommunication terminals 20-1 to 20-m to display the characters based onthe translated text data on their respective displays, without requiringthem to store the translated text data in the own storages 22. As such,since the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m do not keep translatedtext data in their storages, information leakage can be prevented.

According to the embodiments, the communication controlling unit 113 ofthe processing server 10 is adapted so that, when the communicationterminal 20-3 which has received a translation completion notice returnsa display start request notice indicative of a request for startingcharacter display based on the translated text data, the communicationcontrolling unit 113 transmits multiple translated text data itemspreviously stored in the storage 12 to the communication terminal 20-3as the requestor. With this configuration, the users of thecommunication terminals 20-1 to 20-m can check the flow of calls throughcorresponding characters after the translation, even if the usersparticipate in a talk group in the middle of the ongoing talk or theusers start character display for voices from the middle of the calls.

According to the embodiments, the translation processing unit 116 of theprocessing server 10 is adapted to also generate translated text data byperforming translation processing on the text data having been correctedby the communication terminal with the transmission right. Thecommunication controlling unit 113 is adapted to then transmit thetranslated text data for the corrected text data to, among thecommunication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 participating in the talk group G1,the communication terminal 20-3 with a setting of the language differentfrom that for the communication terminal 20-1 possessing thetransmission right. With this configuration, the processing server 10can automatically translate the corrected text data, and send thetranslated text data reflecting the correction to each of thecommunication terminals 20, for which a language different from that forthe communication terminal 20 with the transmission right is set.

According to the embodiments, the storage controlling unit 114 of theprocessing server 10 is adapted so that, when translated text data isgenerated for the text data corrected by the communication terminal 20-1with the transmission right, the storage controlling unit 114 deletesthe corresponding translated text data which is for the text data beforethe correction from the storage 12, and stores the generated translatedtext data for the corrected text data in the storage 12. The translationprocessing unit 116, in response to the generation of the translatedtext data for the text data corrected by the communication terminal20-1, gives a notice indicative of the completion of the translationprocessing to, among the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3participating in the talk group G1, the communication terminal 20-3 witha setting of the language different from that for the communicationterminal 20-1 possessing the transmission right. The communicationcontrolling unit 113 is adapted so that, when the communication terminal20-3 in receipt of this translation completion notice returns a requestfor transmission of the translated text data, the communicationcontrolling unit 113 reads the requested translated text data from thestorage 12 and transmits it to the communication terminal 20-3 as therequestor. With this configuration, the processing server 10 enables thecommunication terminals 20-1 to 20-m to display the characters based onthe translated text data for the corrected text data on their respectivedisplays, without requiring them to store this translated text data inthe own storages 22.

Furthermore, according to the embodiments, the communication controllingunit 211 of each of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 is adaptedto receive a texting completion notice indicative of the completion oftexting processing of the voice data having been transmitted from thecommunication terminal 20-1 with the transmission right. Thecommunication controlling unit 211 is adapted to then request theprocessing server 10 to transmit the text data for which the completionof texting processing has been informed of by means of the receivedtexting completion notice. The communication controlling unit 211 isadapted to then receive the text data returned from the processingserver 10 according to the request. The display controlling unit 213 isadapted to cause the display as the own output interface 24 to displaythe characters based on the received text data. With this configuration,the users of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m, participating ina talk group, are allowed to check the contents of a call using thedisplay of characters as the call converted into a text form. Theconfiguration also allows users who are surrounded by an environment notpermitting comfortable listening of voices, or users who havedifficulties in hearing voices, to check the contents of the call.

Also according to the embodiments, the storage controlling unit 212 ofeach of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 is adapted to storereceived text data in the own RAM as a volatile memory. The displaycontrolling unit 213 is adapted to then cause the display to display thecharacters based on the text data stored in the RAM. With thisconfiguration, the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m can cause theirrespective displays to display the characters based on the text data,without storing the text data in the own storages 22.

According to the embodiments, the display controlling unit 213 of eachof the communication terminals 20-1 and 20-3 is adapted to display anindication corresponding to a received texting completion notice, on theown display. The communication controlling unit 211 is adapted so that,when a request for displaying the characters is given in response todisplaying this texting completion indication, the communicationcontrolling unit 211 requests the processing server 10 to transmit thetext data for which the texting completion notice has been sent. Withthis configuration, the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m can eachperform character display on the own display, only in the cases wherethe display of characters corresponding to voices is required.

According to the embodiments, the communication controlling unit 211 ofeach of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 is adapted so that,when a request for reproducing voices corresponding to charactersdisplayed on the own display is given, the communication controllingunit 211 requests the processing server 10 to transmit the voice dataused for generating the text data. The communication controlling unit211 is adapted to then receive the voice data returned from theprocessing server 10 according to the request. The reproductioncontrolling unit 214 is adapted to cause the speaker to reproduce thevoices based on the received voice data. With this configuration, theusers of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m can listen to theactual call corresponding to the characters displayed on theirrespective displays, at any desired timing. Moreover, even if thecharacters on the display involve an error, the users are allowed toverify the call contents for accuracy.

According to the embodiments, the correction controlling unit 216 of thecommunication terminal 20-1 is adapted so that, when a request forcorrecting characters displayed on the own display is given, thecorrection controlling unit 216 determines whether or not the characterstargeted by the correction request belong to the call for which the ownterminal is in possession of the transmission right. If it is determinedthat the characters targeted by the correction request belong to thecall for which the own terminal is in possession of the transmissionright, the correction controlling unit 216 causes the display to displaya correction form for inputting the correction to the text data, andgenerates text data according to the correction input through thiscorrection form. The text data generated by the correction controllingunit 216 is then transmitted to the processing server 10. With thisconfiguration, even in case the texting processing involved amisconversion, etc., the user who made the call can correct thecorresponding characters displayed by the own communication terminal.

According to the embodiments, the communication controlling unit 211 ofeach of the communication terminals 20-2 and 20-3 is adapted so that,when the communication terminal 20-1 with the transmission rightcorrects text data, the communication controlling unit 211 receives anupdate notice indicative of the update of display. The communicationcontrolling unit 211 is adapted to then request the processing server 10to transmit the corrected text data, in response to the received updatenotice. The communication controlling unit 211 is adapted to receive thetext data returned from the processing server 10 according to therequest. The display controlling unit 213 is adapted to replace thecharacters currently displayed on the own display, which are based onthe text data before the correction, by the characters based on thereceived text data after the correction. With this configuration, thecommunication terminals 20-1 to 20-m can have their own displays presenta display that reflects the corrections made to the text data by thecommunication terminal with the transmission right. Moreover, thecommunication terminals 20-1 to 20-m can cause their respective displaysto display the characters based on the corrected text data, withoutstoring this text data in the own storages 22.

According to the embodiments, the communication controlling unit 211 ofeach of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-3 is adapted so that,when a language for use in the own terminal is set, the communicationcontrolling unit 211 sends information for the set language to theprocessing server 10. The communication controlling unit 211 is adaptedto receive a translation completion notice indicative of the completionof translation processing for text data. The communication controllingunit 211 is adapted to then request the processing server 10 to transmitthe translated text data, in response to the received translationcompletion notice. The communication controlling unit 211 is adapted toreceive the translated text data returned from the processing server 10.The display controlling unit 213 is adapted to cause the own display todisplay the characters based on the received translated text data. Thisconfiguration enables the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m to eachdisplay, if their respective users use a language different from thelanguage for the communication terminal with the transmission right, thecharacters obtained through automatic translation of the correspondingvoices.

According to the embodiments, the storage controlling unit 212 of thecommunication terminal 20-3 is adapted to store received translated textdata in the RAM as a volatile memory. The display controlling unit 213is adapted to cause the display to display the characters based on thetranslated text data stored in the volatile memory. With thisconfiguration, the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m can cause theirrespective displays to display the characters based on the translatedtext data, without storing the text data in the own storages 22.

According to the embodiments, the display controlling unit 213 of thecommunication terminal 20-3 is adapted to display an indicationcorresponding to a received translation completion notice, on the owndisplay. The communication controlling unit 211 is adapted so that, whena request for displaying the characters based on the translated textdata is given in response to displaying this translation completionindication, the communication controlling unit 211 requests theprocessing server 10 to transmit the translated text data for which thetranslation completion notice has been sent. With this configuration,the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m can each perform characterdisplay on the own display, only in the cases where the display ofcharacters based on translated text data is required.

According to the embodiments, the recitation controlling unit 215 ofeach communication terminal 20 is adapted so that, when a request forreciting characters which are based on translated text data anddisplayed on the own display is given, the recitation controlling unit215 converts the characters based on the translated text data into voicedata. The recitation controlling unit 215 is adapted to then cause thespeaker to reproduce the voices based on the voice data obtained by theconversion. With this configuration, the communication terminals 20-1 to20-m can reproduce the contents of calls in a language different fromthe original language.

According to the embodiments, the communication controlling unit 211 ofthe communication terminal 20-3 is adapted to receive translated textdata for corrected text data. The display controlling unit 213 isadapted to replace the characters currently displayed on the owndisplay, which are based on translated text data for the text databefore the correction, by the characters based on the receivedtranslated text data for the corrected text data. With thisconfiguration, the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m can have thecharacters based on translated text data reflect the corrections havingbeen made to the corresponding text data by the communication terminalwith the transmission right.

Note that the foregoing descriptions of the embodiments have assumedinstances where the storage controlling unit 114, in response to voicedata in the cache memory reaching a predetermined volume, or in responseto the release of the transmission right before the voice data reachingthe predetermined volume, generates call data based on the multiplevoice data items retained in the cache memory. However, this is not alimitation. For example, the storage controlling unit 114 maysequentially retain, in the cache memory, voice data transmitted from acommunication terminal with the transmission right. Then, upon releaseof the transmission right, the storage controlling unit 114 may generatethe call data based on the multiple voice data items retained in thecache memory and constituting one call. In this manner, the textingprocessing would be more accurately performed, since a call is notsectioned into portions.

In this relation, when call data is generated upon notification of therelease of the transmission right, the call data is not required tosecure the area for storing a call ID shown in FIG. 9 , as no datasections are created for one call. As such, it is not necessary for thetext data to secure the area for storing a call ID shown in FIG. 10 ,either.

Additionally, the foregoing embodiments tolerate configurations for theusers of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m to change the setlanguages. A set language may be changed by, for example,re-participation in the talk group. In an exemplary instance, the usersof the respective communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m may also switchthe set language in the middle of the participation in the talk group.The communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m may be adapted so that, uponoccurrence of a switchover of the language to another language duringthe participation in the talk group, each of the communication terminals20-1 to 20-m transmits, to the processing server 10, a notice indicativeof a request for sending translated text data prepared in the languageafter the switchover and corresponding to the text data having beenreceived previously. This request notice contains, for example, the userID of the requestor communication terminal, the language code for thelanguage after the switchover, and the text ID of the text data forcharacters to be displayed.

The storage controlling unit 114 of the processing server 10 may beadapted so that, upon receipt of the notice requesting the translatedtext data in the language after the switchover, the storage controllingunit 114 reads the translated text data containing the desired text IDand language code from the storage 12. The communication controllingunit 113 of the processing server 10 is adapted to transmit thetranslated text data read from the storage 12 to the requestorcommunication terminal.

The storage controlling unit 212 of each of the communication terminals20-1 to 20-m may be adapted so that, upon receipt of the translated textdata prepared in the language after the switchover, the storagecontrolling unit 212 stores the translated text data in the own RAM. Thestorage controlling unit 212, upon storing the translated text data inthe RAM, extracts the text ID from the stored translated text data. Withreference to the extracted text ID, the storage controlling unit 212deletes the translated text data previously stored in the RAM andcontaining the same text ID. The display controlling unit 213 of each ofthe communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m is adapted to then read thetranslated text main data of the translated text data newly stored inthe own RAM. The display controlling unit 213 is adapted to display thecharacters based on the read translated text main data together with thecharacters based on the corresponding text main data. In this manner,the characters based on the translated text data before the languageswitchover are replaced by the characters based on the receivedtranslated text data.

Note that it is not necessarily required for the storage controllingunit 212 of each of the communication terminals 20-1 to 20-m to deletethe translated text data containing the same ID from the RAM. Thedisplay controlling unit 213 of each of the communication terminals 20-1to 20-m may be adapted to read the translated text main data of each ofthe translated text data items stored in the RAM. The displaycontrolling unit 213 is adapted to then display the characters based onthe read translated text main data together with the characters based onthe corresponding text main data. With this configuration, thecharacters based on the translated text data after the languageswitchover are displayed together with the display having been presentedup to the switchover.

While certain embodiments of the invention have been described, theyhave been presented by way of example only, and they are not intended tolimit the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication method performed by each of aplurality of communication terminals which are correlated as a group forperforming one-to-many communications from one of the communicationterminals in the group to remaining one or more of the communicationterminals in the group, the communication method comprising: receiving atexting completion notice indicative of completion of texting processingon voice data having been transmitted from one of the communicationterminals; transmitting, in response to the received texting completionnotice, a request signal for requesting transmission of text datagenerated by the texting processing; receiving the text data returned inresponse to the request signal; causing a display to display a characterbased on the received text data; and wherein the texting completionnotice uniquely corresponds to the generated text data such that eachtext generated has a unique texting completion notice correspondingthereto, the texting completion notice including a unique identifier ofthe generated text data; wherein the texting completion notice indicatesthat the processing for converting voice data into text is complete. 2.The communication method according to claim 1, further comprisingstoring the received text data in a volatile memory, wherein the displayis caused to display the character based on the text data stored in thevolatile memory.
 3. The communication method according to claim 1,further comprising: causing the display to display an indicationcorresponding to the received texting completion notice; and accepting adisplay request given in response to the indication corresponding to thetexting completion notice and requesting display of the character basedon the text data generated by the texting processing, wherein therequest signal is transmitted in response to the display request.
 4. Thecommunication method according to claim 1, further comprising: acceptinga reproduction request given in response to the character displayed onthe display and requesting reproduction of a voice corresponding to thecharacter; transmitting, in response to the reproduction request, avoice request signal for requesting transmission of the voice data usedfor generating the text data; receiving the voice data returned inresponse to the voice request signal; and causing a speaker to reproducethe voice based on the received voice data.
 5. The communication methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: accepting a correction requestfor the character displayed on the display; determining whether or notthe character targeted by the correction request belongs to a call forwhich the own communication terminal is in possession of a transmissionright, wherein the transmission right is a right to transmit data;causing the display to display a correction form for inputting acorrection to the text data, in response to determining that thecharacter targeted by the correction request belongs to the call forwhich the own communication terminal is in possession of thetransmission right; generating text data based on the input correction;and transmitting the generated text data.
 6. The communication methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, in response to saidone of the communication terminals correcting the text data, an updatenotice indicative of update of display for the text data; transmitting,in response to the received update notice, a request signal forrequesting transmission of the corrected text data; receiving the textdata returned in response to the request signal; and replacing thecharacter displayed on the display and based on the text data before thecorrection, by a character based on the received corrected text data. 7.The communication method according to claim 1, further comprising:accepting a setting of language for use; transmitting information forthe setting of the language; receiving a translation completion noticeindicative of completion of translation processing for the generatedtext data according to the language; transmitting, in response to thereceived translation completion notice, a translation request signal forrequesting transmission of translated text data generated by thetranslation processing; receiving the translated text data returned inresponse to the translation request signal; and causing the display todisplay a character based on the received translated text data.
 8. Thecommunication method according to claim 7, further comprising storingthe received translated text data in a volatile memory, wherein thedisplay is caused to display the character based on the translated textdata stored in the volatile memory.
 9. The communication methodaccording to claim 7, further comprising: causing the display to displayan indication corresponding to the received translation completionnotice; and accepting a display request given in response to theindication corresponding to the translation completion notice andrequesting display of the character based on the translated text datagenerated by the translation processing, wherein the translation requestsignal is transmitted in response to the display request.
 10. Thecommunication method according to claim 7, further comprising: acceptinga recitation request for the character displayed on the display andbased on the translated text data; performing, in response to therecitation request, conversion of the character based on the translatedtext data into voice data; and causing a speaker to reproduce a voicebased on the voice data after the conversion.
 11. The communicationmethod according to claim 7, further comprising: receiving translatedtext data for the text data with a correction; replacing the characterdisplayed on the display and based on the translated text data for thetext data before the correction, by a character based on the receivedtranslated text data for the text data after the correction.
 12. Thecommunication method according to claim 7, further comprising: acceptinga switchover of the setting of the language for use; transmitting arequest signal for requesting transmission of the translated text datain another language set after the switchover; receiving the translatedtext data returned in response to the request signal; and causing thedisplay to display a character based on the received translated textdata after the switchover, together with or in place of the characterbased on the translated text data before the switchover.
 13. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program whichcauses a processor of each of a plurality of communication terminalswhich are correlated as a group for performing one-to-manycommunications from one of the communication terminals in the group toremaining one or more of the communication terminals in the group toperform processing comprising: receiving a texting completion noticeindicative of completion of texting processing on voice data having beentransmitted from one of the communication terminals; transmitting, inresponse to the received texting completion notice, a request signal forrequesting transmission of text data generated by the textingprocessing; receiving the text data returned in response to the requestsignal; causing a display to display a character based on the receivedtext data; and wherein the texting completion notice uniquelycorresponds to the generated text data such that each text generated hasa unique texting completion notice corresponding thereto, the textingcompletion notice including a unique identifier of the generated textdata; wherein the texting completion notice indicates that theprocessing for converting voice data into text is complete.